Desert Pearl: by Foxkong and Adder McBannon
by Adder McBannon
Summary: Among the sandy dunes of Titania, a wandering samurai named Ginn Mobishi searches for the answer to a question that he has yet to comprehend amongst people who live under the sweltering heat of the desert.


**Desert Pearl**

_**Written by Foxkong and Adder McBannon**_

_Ginn Mobishi had forgotten what it was like to cry until the day of his sister's wedding. Unlike everyone else, he had chosen not to sit on the wooden pews; instead, he leaned against the far wall and had a clear view of Tanya. In her white wedding gown, she looked like a water swan- graceful, majestic. Eric, the groom, nervously shifted on the altar, looking at him with an uneasy expression. Ginn nodded back. He did not care who his sister was marrying as long as the man made her happy. Even as he stood off to the side, isolated from the rest of the guests, Tanya had this uncanny knack to turn her head just a bit and smile at Ginn. The priest continued the sermon; they were approaching the end of the service when the fox talked about vows and rings._

_The chapel was fairly old and worn down, but with the help of copious amounts of white lilies woven around the pews, the pillars, and on the guest lapels; it made the musty scent from outside disappear. The pianist only added to the mood with her tender, loving melodies. With that, the rings exchanged and all that was needed to seal the marriage was the fateful kiss. The groom's parents were not the only ones crying joyfully, as most people were teary-eyed. Ginn did not bother to wipe his eyes when his sister turned, her hair a series of honeycomb blond curls running down her back. He raised his right hand and placed it against his heart. Tanya's smile was all Ginn needed and the tears seemed to keep on coming._

_When the pianist hit the highest of notes, the vulpine priest began to give the last rites, the chapel's doors burst inwards and the music halted abruptly. The outside wind blew in hostile streams of sand, tearing away some of the lilies. The doors closed with an aged, creaking tone and the streams of flowers fell amongst the guests. Someone in the back row dared to stand up to these unknowns and was shot without reason, his blood splattering on people near by. No one had a chance to say something or even stand when the machine guns opened up with their staccato-like chorus. There was no piano accompaniment this time, only screaming, only death cries. Ginn did not know exactly where he was shot, nor did he feel it. His legs simply buckled and he fell to the ground with blood leaking out from under him. Tanya's smile turned to mortified shrieks when her husband fell trying to protect her, but then she too fell back against the altar. Ginn may have screamed, both in pain and in horror, but the wound was deep and he could taste the rising blood._

_The chapel soon fell starkly silent. Only the occasional moan shattered the eerie quiet, easily silenced by a shot or two. The last casings clinked against the floor. The machine gunners retreated to the rear of the chapel when he walked in. Ginn could only hear footsteps from his position right of the altar._

_The white petals fell all around, some turning red after landing on Ginn. He simply watched from ahead of the first pew when the man came into his sights. His dark green cloak had a black trim that ran along the sleeves and down the front and back; it would have flapped open if not held down by the metal clips that ran down his chest and sleeves. He had straight dark purple hair with lavender highlights that touched his shoulders, slightly longer in the back. He wore black, metal-topped gauntlets; had gleaming, golden eyes; and Ginn could clearly see his sharp teeth when he opened his mouth. The man bent down in front of Tanya and pushed back some of her blond curls, turning for but __an instant and looking at Ginn right in the eyes before kissing Tanya on the lips. It wasn't a long kiss nor one that seemed to divulge pleasure, it was simply a smell peck. He stood up and walked away. Ginn could clearly see the jet-black sheath and the hilt, which lacked a guard and had a ring at the tip when he inched himself forward. The man stepped out of the chapel, the white petals following with the flow of the wind and the doors closing shut behind him with a labored, almost painful groan._

**Episode 001 So Close to the Sun**

The sands of Titania were like an unpredictable, wild beast- you never knew exactly what they would- or could- do. Sand could form an obscuring stream to save your life while being pursued, or they could choke the life out of you with a stinging gust. To survive in an environment where the natural environment did what it pleased, you had to be able to adapt.

The man shielded his face from the sandy onslaught with a gloved hand as he made it over a sandy ridge. Below was one of few respites for travelers, the only one for miles. The pit stop was in front of a few, growing trees- something indicated that there was an ample water source nearby. He walked down the grainy slope and gradually lowered his arm with the sandstorm now behind him. The man had black hair with silver streaks tied back into a secure ponytail. His eyes were an effervescent green, his face pale yet refined, his hair hiding jagged golden earrings. He slowed his pace and scanned the buildings to see which one would meet his needs. They were mostly made of scrap metal and wood, with the occasional sheet acting as an entrance. One small establishment appeared to be a garage, judging by the camels and desert-worn hover cars stored inside.

He walked into one of the edifices, pushing past the dark yellow sheet and beginning to browse among the variety of items to be found. Apparently a general store of sorts, there were a pile of clothing, a few firearms, food, and water- the staples of living in this environment, along with a variety of objects that looked like their years caught up with them. The wallpaper had faded to a sickly pinkish-gray. The man picked up a wooden doll in a box that was missing both eyes.

"You won't see quality like that anywhere else, I tell ye," a tiny, aged Asian man walked out from behind the counter with a balding head and wearing a cloak two sizes too big for him.

The man set the doll back down in the box on top of markers and a rusted toy truck. "How much for a voucher to Kiko?" he asked.

The Asian man smiled, showing rotten teeth and returning to the counter covered with old newspapers and magazines. He stepped onto a stepladder and looked up at the man. He was wearing a dark blue robe, tied back with a powder-blue sash around his waist. A red undershirt covered the exposed part of his chest. Around both arms were binding, dark leather straps holding his sleeves in place.

"Twenty three pekos," the old man answered.

The man grumbled and fumbled through his robe, dropping a few copper and bronze pieces onto the counter with a string of clinks.

"Not enough," the tiny man crossed his arms.

"I was hoping you would cut me a deal," the man scratched his head.

"Hover buses don't run on rainbows. You have no cash, no voucher for ye."

The man grabbed the loose change on the table and exited the store. He walked across the yard to the largest and noisiest building. He pushed the red flaps aside and knelt down on a dark cushion in front of a small table. The pungent odor of human sweat mixed with alcohol was very apparent.

Both an ancient Gothic chandelier and paper lanterns were strung up along the walls and lit up the massive room. There were four low tables, and along the sides were sickle-shaped booths. Female servers painted up and dressed in kimonos sat on the furs' or humans' laps as they drank away. Two twisted metal staircases led from the first floor to the upstairs portion, where the moans of both sexes could he heard. At the back was a bar that was split in two, where serving women came out from the curtain in the middle.

The man leaned his katana against the table and waited. A young woman with short black hair and dressed in a pink and white kimono knelt down in front of him. She wore heavy makeup and the perfume she wore was overpowering.

"What would you like?" she asking, leaning forward and making her cleavage quite evident. "We've got all the pleasures in the world."

"Tea," the man replied indifferently, crossing his arms.

"Come on, the desert heat wears the best of us down," she pressed her hand on his dark red gauntlet, which covered all but his middle and ring fingers on both hands. "Let me take you upstairs, and I'll revitalize you both in body and spirit."

"Release me," the man placed his other hand on hers and gently pulled it away.

A woman screeched in front of him when a dirty-furred boar with a broken tusk fumbled with her breasts roughly. He was now pouring beer down her valley and licking it up as she groaned in pleasure.

"Interested?" she pulled his left hand forward, the dark pearls dangling from them jangling from under his sleeve. "Oh, those are beautiful." The woman placed his hand against her own chest and fumbled with the man's sleeve.

She did not listen to his pleas to stop, so he grabbed the sheath and pressed her chin up with hilt. The one-and-a-half foot hilt was copper shaded and appeared crinkled with many ringlets. A large ring pressed under the girl's chin and two smaller ones surrounded it on the tip of the hilt.

He looked at her then pulled his wrist away and returned his sheathed katana to his side.

She rubbed her chin and leaned on her other hand. "I'll get your tea," she stood up and brushed the sand off of her outfit.

"Thanks," he watched her walk away and cupped his hands on the table. The female servers were being pounced on one after the other. One indecent man had already taken off his clothes and was halfway through removing the girl's kimono two tables down. The boar now had two girls on his lap and was fingering one below, while kissing a second. The girls carried off broken glasses and cleaned up the spilled alcohol.

His girl returned with the hot cup of tea and set the glass in front of him. He nodded and then sipped at the drink. It tasted like rat piss but when you're desperate, even rat piss can taste like ambrosia.

"So do you have a name?" she pressed herself on the table and looked up at the man from below.

"Mobishi," he set the glass down.

She groaned and fingered his chin and then his lips. "I want your real name," she spread her legs apart, the kimono covering but a fraction of her thighs.

"Ginn… Ginn Mobishi," he sipped at the tea once again.

Across the room, a one-eyed, brown-furred bear who lacked a shirt was roaring with hot tea running down his face and fur. The server held her ground and pulled the pink kimono over her exposed chest.

"Who is that woman in pink?" Ginn asked.

"Oh, interested in her are we?" she wrapped her hands around his neck. "Her name is Saabira, the newest member of our little club. All she has done since getting here is give one man after another a broken nose. Looks like Gantz is about to join that growing list." She giggled and pulled forward on Ginn's neck.

Ginn stood up abruptly, breaking her grip, and grabbed his sheathed weapon. He slid it into his cloth belt when she turned around onto her stomach and grabbed part of his robe.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"Absolutely nothing," he threw the copper pieces he had saved before onto her belly and started to walk out.

"Come here, you!" Gantz yelled from behind and threw a table out of the way. The bear had pinned Saabira to one of the booths and was now ripping off her clothes.

Ginn kept his right hand on the hilt when he turned around. He could see Saabira out of the corner of his eye. The short, spiky black-colored hair stood out, as did her light brown skin. Her right eye was of a cloudy color that greatly contrasted with her other hazel eye. Gantz fell back a moment later and split another table in two when he fell, making a few women scream. Saabira lowered her heel, her face hard as stone when she pulled the ripped silk over her chest.

"Who's next?" she asked with her face lowered so that the shadows darkened her complexion.

A few more men and furs were interested and drunkenly walked towards her, causing her to simply give a blank, half-closed stare. As Saabira turned to her side and crouched low, Ginn quickly stepped in front of her and stood his ground.

A red-scaled lizard hissed wildly, "And what...do you think you're doing...?" He lazily drew a dirk from his belt. Some of the others followed suit.

Ginn slowly drew out his katana, a nicked silver blade, and slid it in his sheath a few seconds after. Saabira stepped back and ran when she saw the lizard's pants suddenly fall down, his broken dirk clattering to the ground. The other men and furs dropped their broken weapons and grabbed their pants off from the floor, uttering curses of surprise from the incredibly swift attack. Ginn stepped away just as Gantz emerged from behind with a massive club in hand.

He sidestepped the attack and punched the bear right under the chin with his right hand. The bear collapsed to the ground for a second time. Ginn jumped on to the nearest booth as someone shot at him with a blaster. The human ran along the wall kicking the paper lanterns with his sandals. He ducked when a blaster bolt went by his head and the lanterns' flames started to spread. The girls screamed and ran for the back as the drunken men and furs tried to follow. Ginn flicked a copper peko at the young woman who served him before rolling past the red sheets and bursting through into the desert outside.

Ginn immediately got up, ran towards the general store, and hid behind the wall. Humans and furs were running blindly out of the bar, some carrying blasters and knives. They were presumably looking for the human.

"She cleaned me out," Ginn murmured as he removed his hand from his robe, only holding lint. "Looks like I'll be walking to Kiko." The man started to walk away from the store and towards the outskirts of the pit stop.

"Let...me..._go_!" Ginn knew that voice and turned to see a human and a dark-skinned salamander carrying a bound Saabira towards the trees. Ginn looked at the grim sight ahead. The sun and desert was what he faced. He adjusted his sheath and then followed the captured Saabira up the makeshift metal steps that could barely be seen.

He knelt down and peered over the sandy hedge. Saabira was gone. The red-haired human and salamander were standing around the dark trees.

Ginn crawled back down and casually walked up the stairs. The two men were dressed in sandy cloaks; the human had a blaster on his hip, the salamander a knife.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" the human drew the blaster off his hip.

"I'm just looking for a girl to play with," Ginn answered calmly, continuing to walk.

"Get in line buddy, the fires will be out soon enough and then we can all get back to business," the salamander stepped forward, but did not draw his knife.

"Sorry," Ginn stopped and tilted his sheath.

"For what?" the human did not get to answer as Ginn wrapped his fingers into the two smaller rings at the tip of his sheath and flicked the concealed knives at both their throats.

The redhead's blaster went off but Ginn effortlessly tilted his head out of the way. He drew his katana, thrust the blade into the ring of the knife, and flicked it into the air. The man's blood mixed with the sand quickly and he let out a sickening gargle as he dropped to the scorching sand. Ginn flicked the knife embedded in the salamander's throat into the air and slid his katana into his sheath. The human stepped between the two corpses and moved his hilt to catch both blades, which clicked in place.

Ginn brushed the sand away between the trees and found the hidden elevator. He pressed the disguised switch, making the bubble shield fold back and allowing him to jump inside. The bubble closed above, locking the sand out as the elevator descended into the darkness below with a series of rusty creaks.

Darkness was all that greeted Ginn as the elevator continued its descent, the pulleys groaning and creaking every so often. His eyes grew accustomed to the low light after a few minutes, and just in time as the bubble elevator reached the bottom of the shaft with a dull _thwack_. The robed human stealthily swung the door open and entered the room ahead, scanning his surroundings. He appeared to be in what could easily be described as an underground prison with a strangely Gothic architecture, the hallway ahead of him curving sharply up ahead. Large-paced paper lanterns kept the lighting low, making it difficult for Ginn to see clearly as his eyes had to keep readjusting. A sudden grunt caused him to glance to the side, his hand already at his katana's hilt. A boar, presumably a guard, was apparently slacking off to spend some... time with a woman... Raising an eyebrow at this auspicious occurrence, Ginn casually walked behind him and brought his right hand onto his head, knocking him out cold. The poor woman he was with began to shriek, but was silenced as Ginn placed a hand over her mouth, pressing a finger to his lips. With that, he began to delve deeper into the subterranean bunker, his sandals clacking against the stone floor.

With that out of the way, Ginn could finally take notice of exactly who were being detained in the cells. The cells were painted sunny oranges, lime greens and golden yellows. The iron bars were colored plasma purple and streaked diagonally across the cell. He wasn't surprised to see that they were all women. They were nearly all naked; those who weren't only had their silken undergarments on. Many of them were severely bruised, some having black eyes or cuts. Some of them retreated further in their cells as he passed by, eyes wide with fear, mouths quivering and covered in runny makeup. Others simply swiveled their heads with hollow stares, their faces wiped of any emotion. Ginn gaze them a cold glance and simply walked on.

The robed human proceeded to the end of the hallway, which opened up into a multi-floored atrium that spiraled conically downwards and was lined with dozens of prostitute-filled cells.

And lined with a multitude of security guards.

Ginn flourished his sword from his hilt in an instant with a curse. Surprised shouts and barked orders filled the air, mingling with women's screams as gunfire tore through the air. He ducked back into the hallway, leaving the lasers to scorch the floor and walls near his previous position. The first guard that rounded the corner- a scorpion armed with a sawn-off shotgun- was also the first to fall. Ginn whipped a dagger into his optical cavity in the blink of an eye, ripping it out and letting the body fall limp to the floor. A second- this time a human armed with a blaster pistol and a dirk- approached more cautiously than his compatriot, ducking under the first dagger. Ginn instinctively dropped low even before he knew his attack missed, narrowly avoiding a laser meant for his chest. The guard charged forward with his dirk, arms raised for an overhead strike...and simply found Ginn's katana in his gut instead. A quick slice upwards and the adversary was dispatched.

The imbeciles kept on dully coming, all for a swift, simple kill. As bodies started to pile up, an apparently intelligent security guard threw in a grenade. Eyes widening, Ginn dashed outside, right into a baton swing to the face. He was knocked off of his feet with blood streaming down his nose as the grenade set off. Luckily, his position caused the shrapnel to sail over him, tearing off the arm of his lupine assailant. The human swordsman kicked himself back to his feet, slicing off the wolf's other arm and kicking him to the floor. Ginn began to back up once again, chancing a glance at the hallway behind him.

The cells' primitive iron bars did little to shield the women behind them. Those near the blast site were laced with gaping holes and missing limbs. Some had died instantly, while the others were slowly bleeding out to a grisly demise. The walls now painted a realistic crimson.

Ginn simply turned back to the action and continued the onslaught.

He lunged at the nearest guard and sliced his head off. His reckless attack, however, was punished with a blaster shot that hit him in the left shoulder. Fighting against the burning pain, Ginn returned the favor with a downwards slash that bisected the bull from the shoulder diagonally to his hip. As he fought on along the right side of the room, Ginn neglected to heed those on the left side and was promptly assailed by laser fire from across the other side of the floor. His robe was scorched by a few shots, and he took a few hits in the side. Ginn grabbed a leopard by the throat and used him as a meat shield, letting the various weapons bite away at him. The pungent odor of singed fur filled Ginn's nostril as he maneuvered towards the other side of the area. The women in the cells he passed were torn at by the indiscriminate fire as he flung his katana at the opposite side, a thin wire attaching the hilt to his arm as he sliced it through the far gunmen and retracted it back into his grasp.

As more guards began to enter the atrium from across the hall and along his walkway, the swordsman sought for a way out- a way to escape the gunfire as his body shield was slowly falling apart. He glanced downwards to the floors below. About thirty feet down appeared to be some sort of delivery area bare of any holding cells.

Ginn acted quickly. He quickly spun around, grabbing an unfortunate hyena by the gullet and swapping him for a shield while ditching the now bare-boned leopard for a bulky fur-de-lance. Groaning from the weight and pain of his shoulder, Ginn allowed the hyena to take some fire before he tipped the three of them over the railing, letting the canine slip free. He twisted so that the serpent was beneath him as he cushioned his landing with a sickening crunch of his spine, the hyena splitting his head wide open on the unforgiving concrete next to him.

The jarring impact was sufficient enough to daze Ginn, however, and he rolled off of the crushed serpent. Something didn't feel right. His leg felt a little numb. He didn't have time to contemplate as a grenade landed right next to him. With nowhere to hide, he quickly rolled over the fur-de-lance's corpse and brought it up in front of him as it detonated. A single piece tore through the body and into the leg that he had just so recently found shipshape. He stifled a grunt as he pulled the fragment off and ran for cover among the multiple trucks in the area.

Ginn slumped against the side of one of the hover trucks, gritting his teeth in pain. He grunted as laser fire began to tear into the trucks. He flicked the blood off of his katana and wiped its blade, turning it so that he could see his assailants on the reflection of the gleaming blade. Luckily, there appeared to only be six left. Unluckily, two of them were pinning him down with machine gunfire while the others were proceeding down the stairs to him.

The human let his wire katana slacken a little as he let the coil out, then quickly popped out from cover and whipped it out at the first machine gunner, piercing through his gut. Ginn quickly ducked back into cover and tugged the wire to the side, giving a grunt of approval as the other gunner howled as his leg was sliced off. Retracting the katana back to his grasp, he dashed out of cover towards the four gunmen bearing towards him. He flipped through the air, avoiding the first lasers and bullets. He came back down with a downwards slice, hacking the first one in two. Bolting to his feet, Ginn spun around while lashing out his wire katana, slicing through the remaining gunmen. Whipping the blade back into his grasp, he flicked the streaming blood off, twirled the katana once, and slid it back into its scabbard.

A heavy string of claps caused the human to glance sideways. Approaching him was a crocodile easily two feet taller and much bulkier. He only had a pair of jeans on, naked from the waist up. The stench of cologne exuding from this colossal individual could've brought down a mule, more or less Ginn, who instinctively put a hand to his nose. And if the pungent smell didn't bring him down...the reptile's sawn-off shotgunblade might.

"Are you a man or not?" he roared. "Come at me! I want you to pay for killing my guards and whores! Already cost me a goddamn fortune puttin' this together, and I don't need some goddamn punk stormin' in on me like that!"

Ginn stood still, his hand at his hilt as he stared at the reptilian out of the corner of his eye.

"Well fine," the crocodile huffed, lifting up his shotgunblade. "Have it your way."

Pushing down the flaring pain in his sides, shoulder, and leg, the human sped from the safety of his trucks with a charging, upwards strike. His attack connected...and embedded itself in the crocodile's side. Ginn cursed as he tried to pull his katana out of his armor-like scales, but to no avail. The ringleader simply gave a toothy smile as he popped two new shells into his weapon as if nothing had happened.

He brought a knee into Ginn's gun, sending him flying into a truck. The impact actually jostled the vehicle a little as the swordsman dropped to the cold floor with a string of grunts. "Heh, samurai punk," the muscular reptile huffed, pulling out the katana and flicking it back at him, "Can't hurt me with no toothpick."

Ginn slowly pulled the katana back into his grasp as he stood to his feet. He was hurting all over, but rage still burned in his gaze as the crocodile took aim. He ducked back between the hover trucks as he fired the first shell, pockmarking the vehicle and shattering the windows. Ginn could hear his adversary's frustrated growl as he continued to weave through the vehicles.

"Come back here, you fucker!" the scale-plated reptilian barked, lumbering towards the trucks and giving a forceful shove, sending the closest vehicle out of the way and flipping onto its side. Ginn weaved past the hover trucks at an increased pace as his adversary closed in. The truck behind him suddenly buckled and spun into his leg, knocking him off of his feet.

With difficulty, Ginn flipped onto his back, katana drawn as the crocodile swung his shotgunblade down upon him. He blocked the powerful strike, though the blade edged ever closer to him. Ginn pushed back with all his might, sweat matting his brow, but to no avail.

"Ooh...you're stronger than you look, pal," the towering reptile grinned toothily. "Heh, heh, heh... You're not too bad, but unfortunately for you, I'm better."

The crocodile twisted his blade sideways, giving the sawn-off shotgunblade just enough of an angle to allow him to blow off his head...

...when a brilliant, white energy arrow pierced into his skull, causing him to stagger to the side and into the ground dead. Ginn let his arm fall limp to the floor, panting heavily as he glanced at the shot's origin. The human's knees buckled under him, his blue robe soaked with splattering of red from his multiple wounds when he fell over. His hair tie came loose and dark and silver strands narrowed his vision. Ginn made out a rather familiar dark-skinned woman armed with an energy bow that now stood over him.

"Yo," Saabira smirked back down at him.

* * *

Hello, Adder McBannon here with a little surprise- a collaboration story with Foxkong. Now, for those of you who came here looking for a Star Fox 'fic...sadly, aside from the fact that there's anthropomorphic animals and that this takes place on Titania...you're in the wrong place. For those of you who wish to read an original story made by who I hold as one of the best authors I have ever had the pleasure of meeting, kindly stay.

To summarize its origins, Foxkong needed to work on a second story as he waited for his editor to finish with his other one first. He wanted this to be something new and to make sure he had a fresh perspective, he brought me into this.

The story will contain only ten episodes.

So if you drop a review, which will be appreciated and it will be replied by both of us.


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